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Link vs Address - What's the difference?

link | address |

As a proper noun link

is (rare).

As a noun address is

direction or superscription of a letter, or the name, title, and place of residence of the person addressed.

As a verb address is

(obsolete) to prepare oneself.

link

English

(link)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) , from (etyl). Used in English since the 14th century.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A connection between places, people, events, things, or ideas.
  • The mayor’s assistant serves as the link to the media.
  • * Cowper
  • The link of brotherhood, by which / One common Maker bound me to the kind.
  • * Gascoigne
  • And so by double links enchained themselves in lover's life.
  • One element of a chain or other connected series.
  • The third link of the silver chain needs to be resoldered.
    The weakest link .
  • The link on the page points to the sports scores.
  • (computing) The connection between buses or systems.
  • A by-N-link is composed of N lanes.
  • (mathematics) A space comprising one or more disjoint knots.
  • (Sussex) a thin wild bank of land splitting two cultivated patches and often linking two hills.
  • * 2008 , Richard John King, A Handbook for Travellers in Kent and Sussex
  • They used formerly to live in caves or huts dug into the side of a bank or "link ," and lined with heath or straw.
  • (figurative) an individual person or element in a
  • * 2010 , James O. Young, My Sheep Know My Voice: anointed poetry , AuthorHouse, page 32:
  • But know that God is the strongest link .
  • * 2010 , William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler, Universal Principles of Design , RockPort, page 262:
  • The fuse is the weakest link' in the system. As such, the fuse is also the most valuable ' link in the system.
  • * 2010 , Stephen Fairweather, The Missing Book of Genesis , AuthorHouse, page 219:
  • . This is so that nobody can change the way every link must talk about the formula that I taught to make a real Chain of Universal Love and not a Chain of Love of a group or sect.
  • Anything doubled and closed like a link of a chain.
  • a link of horsehair
    (Mortimer)
  • (kinematics) Any one of the several elementary pieces of a mechanism, such as the fixed frame, or a rod, wheel, mass of confined liquid, etc., by which relative motion of other parts is produced and constrained.
  • (engineering) Any intermediate rod or piece for transmitting force or motion, especially a short connecting rod with a bearing at each end; specifically (in steam engines) the slotted bar, or connecting piece, to the opposite ends of which the eccentric rods are jointed, and by means of which the movement of the valve is varied, in a link motion.
  • (surveying) The length of one joint of Gunter's chain, being the hundredth part of it, or 7.92 inches, the chain being 66 feet in length.
  • (chemistry) A bond of affinity, or a unit of valence between atoms; applied to a unit of chemical force or attraction.
  • Holonyms
    * chain
    Derived terms
    *(connection) cufflink, hyperlink, linkage, link farm, missing link *(element of a chain) sausage link * link-up * chainlink

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To connect two or more things.
  • * Eustace
  • All the tribes and nations that composed it [the Roman Empire] were linked together, not only by the same laws and the same government, but by all the facilities of commodious intercourse, and of frequent communication.
  • (of a Web page) To contain a hyperlink to another page.
  • My homepage links to my wife's.
  • (Internet) To supply (somebody) with a hyperlink; to direct by means of a link.
  • Haven't you seen his Web site? I'll link you to it.
  • (Internet) To post a hyperlink to.
  • Stop linking those unfunny comics all the time!
  • To demonstrate a correlation between two things.
  • Derived terms
    * link up

    Etymology 2

    Plausibly a modification of .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A torch, used to light dark streets.
  • *1854 , Dickens, Hard Times , Chapter 7:
  • *:You were coming out of the Italian Opera, ma’am, in white satin and jewels, a blaze of splendour, when I hadn’t a penny to buy a link to light you.’
  • * 1883 , Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
  • "Give me a loan of the link , Dick."
    (Shakespeare)
    Derived terms
    * linkboy * linkman

    Etymology 3

    Origin unknown.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (Scotland) To skip or trip along smartly.
  • References

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    address

    Noun

    (es)
  • Direction or superscription of a letter, or the name, title, and place of residence of the person addressed.
  • Act of addressing oneself to a person; a discourse or speech.
  • * 1887 , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet , VII:
  • Mr. Gregson, who had listened to this address with considerable impatience, could contain himself no longer.
  • Manner of speaking to another; delivery.
  • Attention in the way one addresses a lady.
  • Skill; skillful management; dexterity; adroitness.
  • * 1813 , "Customs, Manners, and present Appearance of Constantinople", The New Annual Register, or General Repository of History, Politics, and Literature for the year 1812 , p. 179 (Google preview):
  • At their turning-lathes, they employ their toes to guide the chisel; and, in these pedipulations, shew to Europeans a diverting degree of address .
  • (obsolete) Act of preparing oneself.
  • A description of the location of a property.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=(Jonathan Freedland)
  • , volume=189, issue=1, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Obama's once hip brand is now tainted , passage=Where we once sent love letters in a sealed envelope, or stuck photographs of our children in a family album, now such private material is despatched to servers and clouds operated by people we don't know and will never meet. Perhaps we assume that our name, address and search preferences will be viewed by some unseen pair of corporate eyes, probably not human, and don't mind that much.}}
  • (by extension) The property itself.
  • (computing) A location in computer memory.
  • (Internet) An Internet address; URL.
  • Derived terms

    * subaddress, subaddressing

    Synonyms

    * adroitness * discourse * harangue * ingenuity * lecture * oration * petition * readiness * speech * tact

    Verb

  • (obsolete) To prepare oneself.
  • * (rfdate), (William Shakespeare)
  • Let us address to tend on Hector's heels.
  • (obsolete) To speech.
  • * (rfdate), (John Dryden)
  • Young Turnus to the beauteous maid addrest .
  • (obsolete) To aim; to .
  • * (rfdate), (Edmund Spenser)
  • And this good knight his way with me addrest .
  • (obsolete) To prepare or make ready.
  • * (rfdate), (Edmund Spenser)
  • His foe was soon addressed .
  • * (rfdate), (John Dryden)
  • Turnus addressed his men to single fight.
  • * (rfdate), (Jeremy Taylor)
  • The five foolish virgins addressed themselves at the noise of the bridegroom's coming.
  • (reflexive) To prepare oneself; to apply one's skill or energies (to some object); to betake.
  • * (rfdate) (Thomas Babington Macaulay)
  • These men addressed themselves to the task.
  • * 1851 , (Herman Melville), (Moby Dick) ,
  • [...] good heavens! dumplings for supper! One young fellow in a green box coat, addressed himself to these dumplings in a most direful manner.
  • (archaic) To clothe or array; to dress.
  • * (rfdate) Jewel
  • Tecla ... addressed herself in man's apparel.
  • To direct, as words (to any one or any thing); to make, as a speech, petition, etc. (to any one, an audience).
  • * (rfdate) (John Dryden)
  • ''The young hero had addressed his players to him for his assistance.
  • To direct speech to; to make a communication to, whether spoken or written; to apply to by words, as by a speech, petition, etc., to speak to; to accost.
  • * (rfdate) (Joseph Addison)
  • Are not your orders to address the senate?
  • * (rfdate) (Jonathan Swift)
  • The representatives of the nation addressed the king.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Peter Wilby)
  • , volume=189, issue=6, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Finland spreads word on schools , passage=Imagine a country where children do nothing but play until they start compulsory schooling at age seven. Then, without exception, they attend comprehensives until the age of 16.
  • To direct in writing, as a letter; to superscribe, or to direct and transmit.
  • To make suit to as a lover; to court; to woo.
  • To consign or intrust to the care of another, as agent or factor.
  • To address oneself to; to prepare oneself for; to apply oneself to; to direct one's speech or discourse to.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03
  • , author=Lee A. Groat, volume=100, issue=2, page=128, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Gemstones , passage=Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)}}
  • (formal) To direct attention towards a problem or obstacle, in an attempt to resolve it.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=The Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage="By all means we want people to use social media, but we do not want you to use it in ways that will incite violence," said Jonathan Toy, Southwark council's head of community safety. "This remains a big issue for us and without some form of censorship purely focusing on [violent videos], I'm not sure how we can address it."}}
  • (computing) To refer a location in computer memory.
  • (golf) To get ready to hit the ball on the tee.
  • Usage notes

    * The intransitive uses can be understood as omission of the reflexive pronoun.